Sociology

Course summary

Why does the average man living in Blackpool live 12 years less than a man living in the City of London? Why are there more young black men in prison in the USA than in college? Why do the richest 80 people in the world have the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population? These are the kinds of questions that a sociologist seeks to answer. Sociology is extremely diverse in its content and at A level students will get a real taste of the range of different topic areas. You will study topics as varied as terrorism, educational inequality, mental illness and crimes committed by the state. The key to success at A level, however lies in developing a ‘sociological imagination’; that is, to develop an appreciation of the unique perspective sociologists adopt when attempting to explain human behaviour and human societies. This will involve delving beyond common sense and through adopting a rigorous methodological and theoretical analysis of social issues. As a sociologist you need to be able to appreciate the limits of your own experiences and to construct explanations which are appreciative of the strengths and weaknesses of different viewpoints.